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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: march · rush · dip · degree · spell · wave · field · tear

  1. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. tear — from crying
  3. spell — letters
  4. tear — from crying
  5. march — the month
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. march — music
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. degree — from a university
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. spell — a short time
  12. march — the month
  13. tear — to rip
  14. rush — hurry
  15. spell — magic
  16. degree — an amount
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. degree — temperature
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — farmland
  23. dip — to sink
  24. field — for sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com